Founded in 1914, The University of Alabama’s Student Government Association (SGA) was established as a central advocacy organization to give the student body representation in university decisions. In an effort to provide a unified voice for students, the university recognized the student body as one of the shared governance groups at The Capstone. Today, the shared governance of the university is composed of UA Administration, the Faculty Senate, the Professional Staff Assembly, the Office, Clerical, and Technical Staff Assembly, and The SGA. Since its inception, the SGA has fostered an experiential learning environment for students at the university to train themselves in democratic proceedings, student self-governance, community-oriented programming, and servant leadership.
The SGA has seen several of its notable predecessors go on to serve in Alabama state and federal offices, including:
J. Lister Hill
First SGA PresidentBorn near Montgomery, Alabama, J. Lister Hill arrived at the University of Alabama at just 16 and quickly became a campus leader. Breaking from his family’s tradition in medicine, he studied law and helped found the Student Government Association. Hill played a key role in drafting the 1914 SGA Constitution, which created shared governance between students and administrators and expanded students’ voices on campus.
Hill was a strong advocate for women’s rights, leading efforts to give women the right to vote and hold office in student government—five years before the 19th Amendment. He was elected the first SGA president in 1915, setting the tone for generations of student leadership to come.
Encouraged by President George Denny to pursue public service, Hill earned his law degree from UA and later studied at Columbia University. Elected to Congress at age 28, he served 15 years in the U.S. House before winning a U.S. Senate seat in 1938.
During his three decades in the Senate, Hill became a national leader in public health and education. He co-sponsored the Hill-Burton Act of 1946, expanding hospital access across the country, and played a key role in founding the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine. Hill’s lifelong commitment to public health helped spark the growth of medical research and innovation that continues to define the University of Alabama at Birmingham today. He retired in 1969 and passed away in 1984.
For more information about J Lister Hill, see his page on the Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Libby Anderson Cater
First Female SGA PresidentBorn in Birmingham, AL in 1925, Cater had an exemplary career in public service that got its start in 1945 when she became the UA Student Government Association’s first female president.
She graduated from the University with honors in 1946 and took a job as administrative assistant to Alabama Rep. Laurie Battle in Washington, D.C. In 1950, she married Silas Douglass Cater, Jr., special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson.
Her career accomplishments included serving as special assistant to Lady Bird Johnson during the 1964 presidential campaign, and being named assistant executive director of the President’s Commission on Women by President Jimmy Carter. She also held similarly impactful roles at the Aspen Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Pictured: Libby Anderson Cater, UA’s first female SGA President, poses with Lynn Yeldell, the first woman elected SGA President (Ms. Cater assumed the office during World War II, following the resignation of Grover C. Murchison, Jr.)
For more information about Libby Anderson Cater, see the article Remembering Libby Cater from Washington College.
For a list of previous SGA presidents, please see the post linked below.